Press Releases

Says “Tennessee has excelled in providing these critical services”

Posted on September 11, 2014

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“Parents of the more than 600,000 children who receive emergency medical treatment at Tennessee hospitals every year deserve to know their child is receiving the best medical care possible—especially during already stressful and unexpected times.” –Lamar Alexander

Washington, D.C., Sept. 11 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced that the Senate unanimously passed the Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act, legislation he cosponsored to improve emergency medical services for more than 600,000 Tennessee children every year.

This year, the National Pediatric Readiness Assessment ranked Tennessee highest among all states in the ability of its hospital emergency departments to take care of children with emergency conditions.

“Parents of the more than 600,000 children who receive emergency medical treatment at Tennessee hospitals every year deserve to know their child is receiving the best medical care possible—especially during already stressful and unexpected times,” said Alexander, the top Republican on the Senate health committee. “I’m proud that Tennessee has excelled in providing these critical services—and glad our hospitals will continue to meet the emergency medical needs of our children.”

The Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act seeks to improve pediatric emergency care through research and other efforts to integrate pediatrics into emergency medical services. Reauthorization of this act helps to ensure that state-of-the-art emergency medical care is available for children in Tennessee and other states through support of state partnership and other improvement initiative grants.